Hoth
by fluffykitty12
Summary: Shadow Skywalker is, once again, getting into trouble. When her ship is shot down in a surprise attack, can the rookie padawan survive when she is abandoned on Hoth?
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Anakin looked around and pulled his Delta fighter forward, looking beside him and seeing his sister do the same.

Wreckage floated all around them. The battle ahd long since been over as they loomed around the planet Hoth, and the jedi cruiser in the distance.

There was an eerie silence on their com channel as they flew easily along. "Race you to the third moon!" Anakin said, jetting forward.

"No fair!" Shadow flew forward, whipping beside a pile of wreckage, barely.

"Shadow, this isn't pod racing." Anakin cautioned. "That was too close for comfort."

"Look who's talking." Shadow retorted and grinned, pulling ahead slightly.

Before the third moon of Hoth loomed the fragments left from other ships.

"easy shadow." Obi-wan said over the com, a hint of worry in his voice.

Shadow wasn't listening. She closed her eyes and leaned forward, licking her lips and focusing.

Anakin looked over to see her speeding ahead, eyes closed.

"Shadow! What are you doing!? Open your eyes!" he yelled.

Shadow dove sharply into the pile of floating wreckage, not heeding his warning and rolling her ship to the side, barely avoiding a jagged piece of metal.

She pushed through at an insane speed, dodging every piece of wreckage in her path and landing on the surface of Hoth's third moon perfectly.

She opened her eyes and grinned. "I win!' she said.

"Yeah, and you almost got dismembered." Anakin said.

"I'm surprised you know such a big word." Shadow grinned.

"Hey! I'm a Jedi, padawan! Don't get cocky. You just barely made it out of there."

Shadow snorted and rolled her eyes.

"Okay, you two.' Obi-wan's voice came over the com. "I've gotten enough gray hairs for today. Back to the cruiser."

"yes master." Shadow rolled her eyes and Anakin grinned. He knew _exactly _what it was like having Obi-wan for a master.

They started back at a decent pace, drifting, wanting to stay in space a bit longer.

"Don't!" Anakin said, when he saw shadow pull forward, about to enter the wreckage again.

Shadow sighed and fell back beside him, steering around the wreckage.

It was then the droids came. Twenty star fighters, all with high powered ion cannons, surged forwards. They had been hiding on the other side of the moon.

"Anakin!" Obi-wan's voice came across the com, a bit frantic. He saw shadow stare coolly ahead and ready her guns. He realized in grim dismay his sister had never been in a space battle before.

"Stay by me, Shadow." He ordered.

Shadow nodded as the ships approached, fanning out.

"Skywalker! What are you doing!?" The stern, rapt voice came across the com. It was Mace Windu.

"the cruiser is defenseless, master." Anakin said, pulling closer and in front of Shadow. "We have to fight."

"they're not targeting the ship, Anakin." Obi-wan reported. "There targeting _you_."

The blaster fire started.

Anakin again pulled in front of shadow and the droids fanned out, shadow pulling her fighter up behind his and firing, easily taking out three ships.

Anakin grinned in admiration before easily shooting down four.

They started coming in from the sides.

The remaining twelve ships came at them in a flurry, all appearing to try a brute force Attack. Anakin could barely hold his own, when two other ships appeared on the other side and fired.

The bullets were going to hit Anakin's ship in a matter of seconds, shadow realized, and she pulled her ship in front of his, knowing it was the only thing she could do.

The droid ship planned to pull out at the last moment, but instead ended up hitting it's ship against shadows, which jolted Anakin's slightly.

Anakin heard a thud, along with a slight groan over the com channel, as his ship was jarred slightly.

"shadow?" he asked his heart rate increasing. The droids came in for another swoop and suddenly diverted all there fire to Shadow's fighter.

"shadow!" he took out six fighters, and the droids looped back around. He noticed his sister slumped over the controls, sparks flying all around her.

Numerous alarms were sounding in her cockpit, he heard over the com.

"Stay with me, Shady. We'll be back on the cruiser soon."

"Mmmm…." Shadow replied, forcing herself into a sitting position. The droids had momentarily disappeared from view. Shadow whirled her ship and fired, taking out three, while Anakin demolished the rest.

The last ship exploded right beside her, the force out it sending her already crippled fighter away and demolishing it even more.

"shadow!" Anakin piloted over next to her ship, which was drifting aimlessly.

"Can you pilot?" he asked anxiously. He noticed the blood trickling down her face as she shook her head.

"they hit something vital.; The hyper drive is activating. I'm set to navigate onto Hoth…."

"Okay, stay calm!" Anakin ordered, though he himself was bordering on panic.

He heard shadow give a weary sigh. "We both know there's nothing I can to fix this, Anakin. Besides, the control panel is stabbing me in the leg. But I want you to know I-"

Before she could finish, the comm fizzled and died. The ship streaked towards Hoth, still in hyperspace.

"No!" Anakin let out the wounded cry and tried to gather his thoughts, breathing heavily.

Mace Windu and Obi-wan were silent on the other end of the connection.

"Rex, let down the shields. I'm landing.' Anakin said.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

She was streaking through the atmosphere towards the icy wasteland below her.

She had remembered a rare fix she could do, something that could blow up the ship, but might deactivate the hyper drive.

She used the force to rip open the control panel, tearing a jagged cut in her leg as she did so.

The alarms were thundering all around her, and the heat shields were failing. It was becoming incredibly hot as she broke the atmosphere.

"Shut up!" she screamed at the alarms. She turned to the control panel and ripped out wires, ripping out the power supply from the hyper drive. It had a battery that was powered, still, but if she attached the primary power source to the main subatomic generator, it would create back feed and blow the hyper drive. It just might blow her out of the sky, too.

She sighed, smoke was filling her cockpit, anyways. She connected the wires.

The contained explosion was smaller, but no less merciful. She felt her skin being burned and she slammed up against the back of her seat, feeling white hot pain run through her.

She must have backed out for a minute, because she woke up after impact. She was lying on the sparking control panel, buried in the frozen ground.

She smelled blood and fuel, and saw the entire cockpit indented around her.

She groaned and felt blood almost bathing her.

She ignited her light saber and cut a hole in the side of the ship, feeling the cold from the frozen world of Hoth invade her burned flesh.

She sighed. She had to get out of this ship. She was entangled in a mess of shrapnel, and she could feel muscle tearing as she pulled herself free, collapsing into the snow.

Colors of pain flashed before her eyes, and she felt dizzy and nauseous. She gagged and blacked out.

Anakin landed momentarily. Mace and obi-wan were there to meet him.

"We'll need to inform the council of this, Anakin." Mace said solemnly.

Anakin nodded and stood, hurrying to stride over to the footlockers and grabbing two survival packs.

"Search parties leaving." he said quietly.

He strode hurriedly back towards the ship.

"Skywalker, we'll need to ask the council first." Mace said easily.

"you do that." Anakin said, vaulting into his ship and closing the top of the cockpit.

"Skywalker!" mace yelled.

"Shields, engage!" Mace ordered, trying to trap Anakin in the hangar.

A clone engaged the shields.

Anakin opened a channel on his com as he started the engines.

"Rex, shields down, now!"

"Trooper, no! That's a direct order!" rex lunged forward, despite the resistance he was met with from his fellow troopers, and disabled the shields. Anakin blasted into space.

"Skywalker, this could be considered a mutiny. Do you know what that would do to your record? You're compromising everythin-" Anakin switched off his com.

From the bridge, mace sighed and paced in frustration. Obi-wan merely looked amused.

Anakin's comlink signaled again, and he answered.

"Sir, anything we can do to help?" the voice of rex asked evenly.

"Yes. Thanks for the shields, by the way, Rex. They might put you in the brig for that. But, could you keep a med team on standby? I'm not sure how bad she'll be."

"Affirmative." Rex signed off.

Anakin sighed. He feared his commander would have to face steep consequences for disabling the shields for him.

He began entering the atmosphere of Hoth, towards where Shadow's tracking beacon had last signaled.

Anakin signed as he put up the heat shields. The atmosphere was thick with something.

He approached a steep cliff suddenly and pulled to the side, feeling the side of his ship scrape against it. He pulled up, and warning lights flashed on. He gently landed the ship quietly,

He checked the warning light- he had damaged the generator of his left engine. He could fix the problem, but it would take in hour or so. He sighed. Shadow was his priority now.

He hurried out onto the frozen atmosphere.

Beside him was her ship, completely destroyed. He tried not to panic and looked around, using the force to reach out.

He sensed her, even if she was weak.

He circled around to the opposite side of the ship, finding the snow stained red. She was laying, crumpled in the snow, unconscious.

His own teeth were already chattering as he opened the survival pack and draped a thermal cloak around her.

Her pulse was already slowing.

He knew he couldn't waste time getting his engine fixed now. The snow around her was red, too red. He needed to keep her warm and stop the bleeding.

He wrapped his own thermal cape around her, too, and gathered her into his arms, starting towards a cliff face a click or so off.

In the cave, he settled her on the ground and found her right hand ghostly white. He rubbed it in his own freezing hands until it glowed red.

He removed her boots and placed her feet on his chest, rubbing them, too, until the looked less pale.

He opened the small med kit and looked at it in disgust.

A few gauze bandages, medical tape, fever pills, disinfectant, and a comlink.

He gently unwrapped his unconscious sister from the cloaks and stared down at her shivering form.

Most of the blood was trickling down her calf, and had already saturated the pant leg.

He slowly lifted the cloth and peered down. He gently scrubbed away blood until he could see it. Shadow had said the control panel was stabbing her leg, after all, and when she had tried to free herself from the wreckage, she must have ripped herself free, since it was now a gash down through muscle, and he thought he saw the glint of bone.

He shuddered, thinking of the pain, and wrapped the wound tightly.

The next wound was down her back, near her spine, a gash that ended with a puncture that went nearly through her shoulder. He didn't know how she had gotten that wound, but he treated it all the same.

Then a cut across her right temple that had a steady stream of blood flowing from it. There were various pieces of shrapnel in her, too.

He decided it would be best to take care of those on the ship.

The wind was picking up, and the day was fading.

He wrapped his sister quickly in the cloaks and her shivering lessened slightly. He was shaking violently, on the other hand.

He tried the comlink in the med kit. Nothing. He was out of range, too. He sighed. His only hope would be to repair his ship.

He would have to trek the click back to it, fix it, and fly it in this bitter cold.

He scolded himself mentally. _You aren't the one that's covered in shrapnel. You have to do some work._ He reminded himself.

He looked at his sister's pale form.

He could take her with him to the ship, but that meant sitting in the snow, exposed, while he fixed the ship, possibly aggravating her injuries and prompting bleeding, and risking her even further.

On the other hand, if he left her here, she would be prey to any creature that found her. He decided he would sense if anything was wrong, and come back, though he knew he probably wouldn't make it in time to help her. But he chose the lesser of two evils, grabbing a small repair kit and starting, shivering, towards his ship.

He sat down, still shaking, and opened the kit, removing a servo driver. He ripped and panel from the side of his ship with the force and went to work.

Mace Windu paced up and down the bridge. It had been nearly an hour since Anakin had left the transport, and there had been no word from him. His tracking beacon had gone offline, and the scanners showed the entire planet was about to receive a major blizzard.

"You're former padawan may have just betrayed the Jedi order." Mace said, looking up at obi-wan suddenly.

"He didn't." Obi-wan said. "he's done what he thought best. Risking his life for that of a major political figure in the war that gives the Jedi tons of support."

"He did it out of attachment." Mace said, continuing to pace.

"yes, that may also be true." Obi-wan said. "But can you prove it?"

Mace sighed. He knew he couldn't. That was the problem. In some light, what skywalker had done had been right.

"any word from the council yet?" mace asked.

The clone shook his head. "no, sir. Communications were damaged in battle."

Mace sighed, finally making a decision.

"ready a transport for me in the hanger bay." He ordered.

Obi-wan raised an eyebrow.

"I'm not doing anything wrong, Kenobi. You assume command while I'm off retrieving your runaway apprentice. Besides, I'm only rescuing a major political figure, as well as a Jedi."

Obi-wan stared in wonderment at the Jedi master as he stepped into the turbo lift.

Mace took the transport down and broke the atmosphere of Hoth. It would be incredibly dangerous to fly out during the storm, and he broke the atmosphere.

He narrowly dodged some cliffs. He found the last known place of the tracking beacon and landed. He found a form in a Jedi Tunic, kneeling by a Delta in the snow. The snow was already blowing, the storm starting. He had to get Anakin, now.

Anakin looked up. He sensed Master Windu's ship landing. He had barely started to repair his own ship, and it was getting colder. He was freezing.

Master Windu hurried down the ramp, clad in survival gear.

He grabbed Anakin's arm.

Anakin resisted, but he was shaking uncontrollably, Mace realized, with some concern.

"Anakin!" he screamed over the howling wind. "A storm is coming!"

Anakin shook his head and resisted. "Shadow's alive! I-" before he could respond, he felt a needle inject him under the skin, and he collapsed.

He woke up as they were breaking the atmosphere, wrapped in a thermal cloak, sprawled on the floor of Mace's ship.

"Shadow!" he yelled, looking around, panicked.

Mace struggled to pilot through the snowy atmosphere.

"She's dead, skywalker." Mace said.

"She is now!" Anakin said. He felt hot tears pouring down his cheeks, and he didn't care if he was a Jedi knight. He only wanted his sister back. "She was alive! She dragged herself out of the ship! I found her unconscious and took her to a cave before I started repairs my ship. But… now… she's going to freeze to death." He choked out.

The ship bucked as they were hit with another blast of blizzard. "we couldn't go get her, skywalker. We wouldn't have been able to pilot through the blizzard. I barely managed to save you."

"Save me!?" Anakin burst out. "I would rather die with her than go back to the order… without her…."

Anakin choked back a sob.

Mace looked, surprised, over at Anakin. Just then, the ship seemed to rear and then all was calm as they broke the atmosphere.

"I can't sense her." Anakin cried out, wrapping the thermal cloak tighter around himself. "Why the kriff did she have to die, mace!"

"_Skywalker! _" Mace snapped. "Control your emotions! Let them go into the force."

"Look where the kriffing force has gotten me so far!" Anakin yelled. "she's dead, Mace! Gone! My little Shadow! I want to lose my mind right now! Just… let me go!" he yelled.

""You mean die!?" mace was truly scared now.

"_I don't even know anymore! _You'll report this to the council, anyways. I have to go." He ran into the cargo hold of the ship. Mace was afraid he'd try to jettison himself, but all he heard were muffled screams of anguish and pain.

He felt tears welling up in his own eyes.

_She gave her arm to save your life. _He thought bitterly. _And you left her on Hoth to freeze. _He only hoped she would be unconscious while she died.

The ship landed easily in the hanger. Five clones rushed forward. Mace recognized them as Appo, Fiver, Rex, and a few other of Anakin's officers.

"Anakin, is she…?" Rex asked. Mace was shocked to hear Rex call his commander by his first name.

Anakin's eyes were puffy and red. He looked like he had been torn apart and crudely sewn back together in the last five minutes. "She's gone.' He choked out.

Rex seemed to stagger back. He leaned heavily against the wall, almost like it was a physical blow. Fives sniffed. "remember when she gave me a birthday party on that random day, because she said that I felt sad?"

Appo looked as though he had been crushed. "No…." he shook his head.

One clone turned and ran away, tearing down the halls, putting his helmet on to hide his face. The other turned and trudged away. "This is what war does…." He mumbled.

Anakin's com signaled.

"Anakin, Ashoka's transfer ship arrived. I already know… but Ashoka… she senses something. She's waiting for you."

"Okay." Anakin trudged into the turbo lift, looking like half the man he used to be.

He took it to the bride to find ashoka waiting for him, pacing.

"What's going on, master?" she asked. "I sense something is wrong."

He sensed Ashoka's fear when she saw his face. He knew everyone on the bridge was watching him.

He placed his hand on her shoulder. "she's gone." He said,.

Ashoka visibly recoiled. Her eyes filled with tears. "Wh-what?" she asked.

"she's dead." Anakin said, not even bothering to say one with the force.

A cry was torn from Ashoka's throat, filled with so much anguish and raw agony it brought tears to Anakin's eyes.

"you're lying!" she screamed. Anakin just shook his head.

Ashoka screamed again and ran into the turbo lift, jamming a button. She reached the hanger bay and brushed past mace windu, not caring anymore.

"Padawan Tano!" Mace yelled. Ashoka stopped in front of two ships that were junk. Tears streamed down her vision. She felt the force fill her as she used it to pick on up and fling it into the wall.

Mace windu was alarmed now.

He rushed towards her, trying to stop her, and she turned to face him, chest heaving, sobbing, and almost drowning in her tears. She used the force to gather him and roughly shove him back, into the turbo lift. The doors closed behind him.

He arrived on the bridge to find everything deathly silent.

Clones were only doing their duty. The morale of the entire ship seemed gone. Obi-wan sat, head in his hands, while Anakin stood looking out at Space, eyes not holding their regular light.

"skywalker!" he tried, rushing forward. 'you're padawan just destroyed a starfighter! You need to control her!"

Anakin turned, face so mournful it almost made Mace double take.

"She needs time.' Anakin said hollowly.

"time to what? Destroy the ship!?" Mace said.

"she's one with the force now, Master!" Anakin almost spat. "You take care of your duties, and I'll take care of mine!"

Mace was utterly speechless.

On Hoth, Shadow awoke to find herself in a cave, shivering, wrapped in two thermal cloaks. _Anakin. _She instantly thought, and smiled despite the pain. She was confused. Anakin was gone, she sensed he was off planet. She had crashed, she knew. The wind screamed outside the mouth of the cave. She sent what little grasp on the force she had left.

She sensed a ship a click or two away, and the fleeting presence of Anakin. He had been there a while ago.

She was going to freeze to death if she didn't move, she realized.

She stood and started walking.

She trudged through he snow, thermal capes draped around her, until she staggered over to the ship.

She found it sitting, the panel open. She studied it and sensed the problem. It would take a while to fix. She dug around in the snow until she found a servo driver and focused.

Anakin had gained some of his composure in the hour to follow. He was still listless, but he at least did his duty, giving orders hollowly. Ashoka was struggling, they could all see. She was still reeling from the blow, and at uncertain times, her eyes would fill with tears and she would run away, to return a few minutes later shaking. Anakin did what he could to comfort her. Obi-wan was spiraling into uncertainty and all the clones seemed to feel empty. They had finally expanded the communications so that they could speak to the council. The meeting was about to start.

Shadow sighed. The blizzard, if anything, had gotten worse. She was too numb to feel any more pain, but she could tell she was dying. She was so close, so close to fixing the engine, and so close to falling over in the snow and not getting back up again. She lost it and fell forward, onto the engine, eyes closed, ready for the force to take her.

The engine roared and started, and the metal that would normally scald her felt pleasantly hot on her skin. She forced a smile on her chattering teeth and clumsily screwed the panel back into place, getting in the starfighter.

She was running on fumes, now, she knew, and by instinct she entered the takeoff procedure and lifted off. She was battered around in the blizzard, but she forced her way through the atmosphere, and towards the cruiser she slowed and entered the passcode, and the shields automatically went down. She landed easily and staggered out of the transport, fighting to stay conscious.

Admiral Yuelaren rushed forward upon seeing her.

"Anakin." She almost whispered. The admiral quickly gathered the small girl into his arms. "You''ll see him soon, sir, I promise. Right now you need to get to the med bay."

He felt the girl tense in his arms. She unexpectedly kicked him and freed herself from his grasp.

"You'll never take me, you kriffing separatist!" she screamed.

She sprinted into the turbo lift and hit the level for the bridge.

"She died on Hoth's surface.' Anakin said quietly, finishing the report. Ashoka sniffed beside him, and Obi-wan studied his boots. The holographic image of the council appeared before them.

Just then, the doors to the turbo lift opened. "Ani! Ani!" he heard frantic screaming and something small launched herself at him, and he caught her.

"Shadow?" he asked in disbelief. Shadow was clinging to him tightly, face buried in his chest. 'Ani., the seps are after me!" she whispered.

Anakin stroked her hair quietly while ashoka stared and Obi-wan watched in awe.

"I promise you, they're not. Come on, let's go down to the med bay."

The turbo lift doors opened again and Admiral Yuelaren stepped onto the bridge, looking surprised to se Anakin holding Shadow.

Shadow screamed when she saw the admiral and grabbed her light saber, igniting it and pointing it at him, still clutching Anakin. "he's the sep." shadow whispered, leaning into Anakin for support.

Anakin easily disengaged her light saber. 'We'll talk about this later, shady.' He said.

Admiral Yuelaren looked stunned. "I just tried to take her to the med bay, sir." He said. Shadow was still shaking in Anakin's grasp. 'I understand, admiral. She's hurt and confused right now.' He stepped into the turbo lift and went down to the med bay. As soon as the medics saw her, they rushed to work, patching up wounds, getting feeling back into her arms and legs, assessing damages.

Anakin saw her a half hour later, laying in the med bay, in a fresh tunic, bandages and covered in blanket.

He slowly entered.

Shadow's eyes opened. She blinked at him for a moment, confused, then grinned. "Hi." She crawled onto his lap and wrapped her arms around his neck.

"You're shaking." Anakin notes. He grabbed a blanket from the bed and wrapped her in it, and she seemed to melt further into his chest.

"how'd you do it, Shady?" he asked quietly.

Obi-wan quietly entered along with ashoka.

Shadows shrugged. "I woke yup and you were gone, as I walked out and started repairing the ship. I was ready to die when the engine finally started. Then I guess I flew here and found you."

Anakin sighed and chuckled. "And you thought admiral Yuelaren was a sep." he added.

"Did not!" shadow said indignantly.

Ashoka laughed quietly. "then how do you explain pulling your light saber on him and calling him a kriffing separatist?" ashoka asked.

Shadow sighed. 'hey, you repair a ship after being caught in an explosion and blizzard and pilot it back here, and you'd be delusional too."

She leaned against Anakin again, clearly exhausted.

"Well, Shadow.' Obi-wan finally spoke. "this is going to add quite a few legends to your long, long, chronicle."

Shadow grinned. 'I can't wait to hear those." She said, smiling.

Anakin laughed. "yeah, like the one where they said you could fight off six gundarks using only the force."

"and where they said ashoka could demolish a thousand droids without a light saber.' Obi-wan quipped.

Shadow sighed. "Where's mace?" she asked suddenly.

"Right here." Mace was standing the doorway, looking awkward, like wondering whether or not he should come in.

"I mean, um, Hi, master windu." shadow said quickly.

Mace sighed. 'I don't deserve your respect, padawan.' He said. "I left you on Hoth."

Shadow shrugged and wince. "It's okay. I mean, you saved Anakin's butt, that counts for something."

Anakin rolled his eyes. "I should have gotten you too, padawan.' He said.

Shadow shook her head. 'two lives for one isn't for the greater good. I might not do my math homework, but even _I _know that. Sides, if I can fight six gundarks unarmed, I can pilot a ship off a stinking snowball."

Ashoka laughed and Obi-wan looked mildly amused.

Mace sighed. "Thank you, padawan. You will never know how indebted I am to you."

Shadow shook her head. "are you kidding? The robot arm was the only thing that worked on that snowball! It did most of the repairs. I swear, if I lick it, my tongue will still get stuck to the metal!"

"Let's not.' Obi-wan suggested and Anakin held her back from proving her point.

Shadow sighed. "whatever. What I'm trying to say is, this robot arm is really cool."

Anakin sighed. "I'm sure it is.' He said, a bit exasperated.

"In fact, I'm thinking of getting a wrist blaster built on it, like the super battle droids have, so then I could-"

"No!" Obi-wan said suddenly. "no, you get into enough trouble without a wrist blaster."

Shadow sighed. "see, it would be so much cooler though, if I had the wrist blaster and then-"

"Then I'm sure you'd get into much more trouble." Anakin said.

Ashoka sighed and shook her head. "I always miss out on the fun." She said quietly.

Shadow rolled her eyes. "yeah, it was just _wizard _down on Hoth. In fact, I'm still shaking from excitement, and slight frostbite."

They all laughed at that.

Shadow leaned into Anakin's chest and closed her eyes. "Stupid hyper drive." She muttered. Anakin stroked her hair quietly until she fell asleep.


End file.
